Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a good compact GPS logger, which is primarily intended for geotagging digital photos.
The idea here is that the GPS logger periodically records your GPS location and then, later on, the Holux Logger Utility takes this timestamped GPS information and compares it against the JPG timestamps on your photos. Then for each photo, it can find the GPS record that best matches the photo time and add that GPS location information to the photo.
The basic idea works well. The M-241 is sometimes a little awkward to use, but I like mine enough that after I accidentally lost my first one, I quickly bought a second. I use the GPS info for both tagging photos and for generating route maps.
Some specific positives:
* The logger is very compact and easily fits into a pocket.
* The Holux logger utility uploads GPS data as either proprietary TRL files or as Google Earth KML files. The KML files can be easily viewed with Google Earth.
* GPS signal sensitivity is quite good. It can sometimes take several minutes to get an initial fix, especially if you are moving, but it tracks quickly thereafter.
* The LCD display is useful: I enjoy being able to watch things like direction, or speed, or travel distance as I travel.
Now some weaknesses:
* A Duracell Alkaline AA lasts me about 15 hours and a Lithium AA about 22 hours. (Fairly typical battery life for a GPS device.)
* The battery case cover is rather flimsy and needs cautious handling.
* The two button control UI on the logger takes a little getting used to. I can now navigate it quickly, but I initially found it rather frustrating.
* The logger utility UI is distinctly clunky and the manual is rather weak. The UI does the job, but not particularly elegantly.
* You need to keep your camera time synchronized with the logger's time and you need to compensate for timezone differences when you do the photo tagging.
You can use either USB or Bluetooth to communicate with the logger. I've been using USB on Vista, without any problems. I can't speak to the Bluetooth functionality.
Some suggestions:
* Make sure to download the latest firmware and logger utility from the Holux website. The latest versions have bug fixes and some feature additions.
* In the logger settings, turn "AutoLog" to "on". This means it will start logging as soon as it gets a GPS fix, and you don't have to remember to separately turn on logging.
* Rather than worrying about time zones, I ended up leaving my camera permanently in UTC+0 (GMT). The logger always writes its TRL records in UTC+0, so this means I can tag photos without having to specify a timezone adjustment.
* By default, the logger logs every 5 seconds. I moved it to every 30 seconds, which I find adequate for photo location and lets me store over a month of records.
* If you're using USB, it's worth turning off the Bluetooth radio to save power. (This is a new feature in the v1.12 firmware.)
Overall, this isn't perfect, but I find it very convenient as a lightweight tool for GPS and photo logging.
Click Here to see more reviews about: M-241.: Holux M-241 Bluetooth Data Logger GPS (Runs on AA Battery, MTK Chipset, 130,000 Waypoints)
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